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1911 



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Ye sentinels, that for a thousand years 
Have watched this peaceful valley . . . 



See p. 25 



THE ARMY OF DAYS 



AND OTHER VERSE 



BY 

JAMES HENRY MacLAFFERTY 

Author of "My Soul's Cathedral," 

*• Light Through the Valley," etc. 




BOSTON 

SHERMAN, FRENCH & COMPANY 

1911 



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Copyright, 1911 
Sherman, French &<> Company 



©CI.A300329 



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If this be song, then would I bring 
A tribute in the song I sing 
To one who in the singer's life 
Is every day a Friend and Wife. 



CONTENTS 



PAGE 

THE ARMY OF DAYS 1 

MINISTERING ANGELS 3 

MY CRAVING 4 

TO A DAISY 5 

CARISSIMA 6 

ROSES 8 

DEFEAT 9 

THE BLENDED NAME 10 

SUNSET ON REDONDO BEACH 11 

FRIEND U 

FORGIVING 15 

THE OAKLAND HILLS 16 

THE FLY-CASTER'S ELYSIUM 17 

LOVE OF NATURE 18 

IN THE STILL NIGHT WATCHES .... 19 

COLUMBIA RIVER 20 

A DAY WITH THEE 21 

RECOMPENSE 22 

OUR WORDS ARE WINGS 23 

JUDGE NOT 24 

THE SEQUOIAS 25 

HOPE 28 

THE HOUR DIVINE 29 

THE STAR OF HOPE 31 

THE POET'S MISSION 32 

BUILDING HOPE 33 



PAGE 

ALCATRAZ, THE ISLAND PRISON .... 34 

JESUS THE CHRIST 35 

THE OLD ENGLISH LAVENDER MAN . . 36 

CALIFORNIA, BRIDE OF THE SUN ... 37 

AGE 38 

THE GREATEST 39 

MY SONG OF THEE 41 

HOME 42 

PUGET SOUND 43 

FREEDOM 44 

MOUNTAINS 45 

SUNSET IN IDAHO 46 

GREAT SALT LAKE 47 

HOPE 48 

LIFE 49 

THE DESERT 50 

I KNOW NOT 54 

SOLACE 55 

ARISEN 56 

THE WILL 57 

THE CITY LOVED AROUND THE WORLD . 58 

THE CALL OF THE BELL 59 

THE SHASTA DAISY 66 

THE SONNET 67 

PURIFICATION 68 

I'LL SMILE MY GRIEF AWAY 69 

ONE DEAR DAY 70 

INFINITY 71 

GOD IS LOVE 73 

YEARS 75 



PAGE 

THE FLOWER IN THE WOOD 76 

AT MIDNIGHT 77 

TO A PORTRAIT 78 

HAST THOU GONE FROM ME? 79 

ETERNAL LIFE 80 

TEMPTATION 81 

A VALENTINE 83 

WINGS OF GRIEF 83 

MY FRIEND 84 



THE ARMY OF DAYS 

They come with a measured, martial tread 
Through a deep defile in the barrier hills ; 

With a kindly face or a mien I dread — 

No rift in their ranks the rhythm stills — 

And these are the days confronting me 

This side the Hills of Eternity. 

They swing and fling with never a halt 
Or a shortened step or a broken line. 

They march and march with never a fault 
Though the storm may howl or the sun may 
shine. 

And I must meet them one by one 

And conquer each ere the setting sun. 

'Gainst some, with courage as strong as steel, 
I throw my strength to win the fight; 

From others shrink and backward reel, 
My courage weakened ere falls the night ; 

With a deeper pain, with a grief more real 

If I lose from the lack of a high ideal. 

And on and on they sweep along, 
Each day unmatched in all it bears ; 

An army of days that thousands strong 
Must test the armor my spirit wears. 

For filled with struggle are some of these 

While others tempt to seductive ease. 

[ 1 ] 



steadfast I'll stand with the knowledge shod 
That the man who wins against baser things, 

In his soul, is a man more like his God 

Than he who at ease to the tide's turn 
swings. 

Ah, thanks to Thee as I strive the while. 

That the days of life march single file! 



[2 ] 



MINISTERING ANGELS 

Ye thoughts of mine that are not of earth 

And hopes possessing me born above, 
That temper passions of evil birth 

And hide my hatreds in lasting love ; 
Softly swing on thy silken strings 

That seem secured in empyrean blue — 
The realm the skylark seeks as he sings 

Ere yet the sun signals home the dew. 

'Tis ye my Ministering Angels are 

In silent night or in stress of day ; 
Unerring guide as the Northern Star, 

Un-numbered as is the Astral Way. 
Overspreading me like the arch of Heaven, 

In heat of conflict aff^ording rest ; 
In every good thou dost place a leaven 

And soothe as once did my mother's breast. 



[ 3 ] 



MY CRAVING 

It may not be for me to glorify 

And hallow in the hearts of those to come 
The fair spots of this goodly earth, as some 

Have done ; or nature's charms to magnify 
By painting pleasant pictures out of words. 

Though be it far from me to idly say 
It would not be a rare, delightful thing 
If God did honor me, that I might sing 

Of these, for those along the future way — 
With song as liquid sweet as any bird's. 

I yearn for power like this. Not out of pride. 
But that of nature's lessons I might teach, 
How God through nature everywhere doth 
reach 

The human heart and good from ill divide, 
By song inspired in the hearts of men. 

But more than this I crave from Thee, God ! 

I ask the power to soothe the human heart ! 

To know its innermost — its secret part — 
To ease the soul, to rest it when the rod 

That heated white sears often and again. 



[ 4 ] 



TO A DAISY 

Darling of the poet's breast; 
Jewel set in nature's crest; 
Saucy in the summer shower, 
Half a gem and half a flower. 
Frightened when my bungling foot 
Stumbles near thy magic root. 

Here I find thee quite alone. 
Hast thou error to atone? 
Bowing meekly to the sun, 
What small evil hast thou done? 

Time will come that nodding head 
Bows upon its mother bed. 
Time will come when thou, as I, 
Must find time withal to die. 
Ere the day when this needs be, 
Daisy, Sweetest, teach thou me. 



[5 ] 



CARISSIMA 

What is it that over me stealing 

Like sweet, dreamy music at night, 
Sends rest to my soul and a sealing 

From scenes that have troubled my sight; 
That lends for my load an endurance. 

That opens my eyes so they see 
Through the lowering clouds, sweet assurance? 

'T is because I am clinging to thee. 

Why is it that when in my thinking 

The vision possesses me quite 
Of the font drying up where I'm drinking. 

The noonday becomes as the night? 
Not the night when the stars are above me, 

But night when their radiance is gone. 
And the fear that you no longer love me 

Makes me doubt there can ever be dawn. 

O'er the sands of the desert I've stumbled, 

With a glaze in my eyes, and athirst; 
Seen the hopes of the years as they crumbled. 

While I gazed on mirage that accurst 
Seemed a cool, shady spot in the distance — 

Oh, I longed for the shade of a tree — 
It was then that I called for assistance 

And the succor I found was in Thee. 



[ 6 ] 



Ajs a buoy to one that is sinking, 

As a life-line thrown into the sea, 
As to lips that are parched is the drinking 

Of water, so art Thou to me. 
Thou art surcease from all of my sorrow, 

A resting from all of my pain. 
My hope for the coming to-morrow 

When we shall no longer be twain. 



[T\ 



ROSES 

Was ever a year like this for roses? 

Did ever the birds seem half as gay? 
And is there a spot where nature poses 

As glorious in her wanton way? 

Why a poet's heart must break into singing 
From sheer delight at the lavish spread; 

While his fancy starts to rhythm a-swinging 
And songs are strung on a golden thread. 



[ 8 ] 



DEFEAT 

I've fought the fight against my foe and lost. 

A foe not human but of circumstance. 

For weeks contested stubbornly advance 
He made, nor counted as too great a cost 
To give my life to stay his hand. But, crossed 

In all my purposes, his sharpened lance 

Has pierced my armor and in dev'lish dance 
He has his heel-marks on my shield embossed. 

But though I've suffered physical defeat 
'T is not defeat the craven coward knows. 
And though my heart and body may be sore 
Yet I have still the fortitude to meet 
Whatever storm across my pathway blows — 
To win against this foe and many more. 



[ 9 ] 



THE BLENDED NAME 

" He that hath seen Me hath seen the Father." 

When the often self-sought battle rages; 

When I vainly wield a faulty sword; 
Jesus, miracle of all the ages, 

Through the ages still to be adored, 
Beholding thee in raptured contemplation 

Silences the clamor of my life. 
And in these moments rare of divination 

Farther, fainter, vanishes the strife. 

And then a light suffusing all my being, 

A wondrous light that blinds my mortal 
sight. 
Reveals the will of God in thee decreeing 

The reconciling evil with the right. 
I stand uncovered, filled with awe before Him ; 

I bare my soul to Him, The God That Is, 
And then, as I with all my soul adore Him, 

Unconsciously I blend thy name in His. 



[10] 



SUNSET ON REDONDO BEACH 

Was heaven's clouded canopy ere yet 

Bedecked with half the glory sight can reach, 
As here I stand upon Redondo Beach 

And watch thee as thou fadest, thou sunset 

Of June's last day? O, that I might but get 
From Him who made thee, power to tell how 

each 
Of yonder liquid amber clouds doth teach 

My soul to worship and to ne'er forget. 

I gaze enraptured — All surpassing sight ! 

The dome of heaven is deep, volcanic red — 
And now the Sun is gone and for the night 

Beneath Pacific's sombre floor his bed 
Has sought. See! Slowly pales the red to 

rose. 
And timid out the east the first star shows. 



[11] 



FRIEND 

TO X.. F. C. 

I call thee Friend because the word is large, 
Perhaps, beyond all words that may denote 
The ties men have assumed among themselves. 
A greater word is Friend than husband, wife, 
Than father, mother, brother, sister, son 
Or daughter, even as the base laid deep 
Beneath the surface and whereon is held 
A towering pile must needs be sterner stuff 
And more enduring than the ornament 
That gilds the pinnacle to charm the eye. 
For with the base secure the dome is held 
O'er all, and in return protects it from 
The ravage of the elements. And so 
With flawless foot the mass remains as one 
United whole to please the sight, as well 
As serve its own intended use. 

And thus 
Neath all relationship there must abide 
The quality of friendship, else the tie 
Sustained can be but in the name alone. 
Had Cain been friend to Abel then his hands 
Had not been crimsoned in his brother's blood. 
For bond of brotherhood spared not the life 
The bond of friendship would have saved. A 

man 
Will spare his friend although he take the life 
Bestowed upon another by the one 
Who gave himself his being. 
[12] 



More than this. 
If friendship, true comraderie, cement 
The tie assumed in wedlock, nought but death 
Dissolves the union, if at all. For some 
Who bear this bond believe and have within 
Their souls the witness that it goes beyond 
The ending of their earthly days and joins 
Them closer in the Heavens. 

The Master when 
He taught of love took on His lips the word, 
"For greater love hath no one," so He spake, 
"That a man will give his life to spare a 

Friend." 
And so is not the tie that must exist 
To make all other earthly ties endure 
Of deep significance? Nor should the word 
Be lightly spoken or the bond assumed 
Unthinkingly, for with it must there be 
The burden of responsibility. 

And yet, remembering this, I call thee 

"Friend." 
To walk with thee is deepest joy to me. 
I love the things that thou hast loved and 

share 
With thee the spiritual pleasures few have 

known. 
In thy companionship have they become 
To me like physical reality. 
[13] 



In that rejoicing thee is my delight, 
And, greater proof of friendship, in the pain 
Thou sufFerest lives my deepest sorrow. So 
Like Ruth, I say as truly unto thee, 
"Entreat me not to leave thee, nor return 
From following after thee." 



[14] 



FORGIVING 

To still the throb of an aching hurt 

Forgive the one who made it. 
For a garden may be but useless dirt 

Till the hand of a man shall spade it. 

The deeper the furrow the richer the yield 

Of the golden-headed grain. 
But the harvest is not till the furrow is healed 

Nor the blessing till after the pain. 



[15] 



THE OAKLAND HILLS 

O the Oakland Hills that back the town 
With canons deep that up and down 
Are filled with tempting, shady nooks 
That lure the body as tempting books 
May lure the mind; and on whose breast 
The whole of a man may find his rest. 

From Berkeley's oaks to nestling Niles 
A score of Mediterranean miles 
Do call and call, enchant and hold 
The miser who loves a poppy's gold. 
For this is wealth no man can spend 
And this is gold no man can lend. 



[16] 



THE FLY-CASTER'S ELYSIUM 

Where the tipsy, tattling Truckee 

Tumbles downward to Nevada, 
Where the dreams of being lucky 

Like the sails of an Armada 
Drift across the heavens filled with boundless 
blue: 

Where the foxy, far fly-caster 

Loses thought of church and pastor — 
There's Elysium for such as I and you. 

Just a mile of flashing river, 

A sublime, unending poem ; 
Every inch a blissful shiver — 

Just like heaven when you know 'em — 
And with every inch a pipe-dream comes to me. 

So away I drift from troubles 

As the Truckee floats its bubbles 
To the desert, playing hookey from the sea. 

O the mad-cap merry Truckee! 

O you two-pound speckled beauty ! 
How I love you when you're plucky ! — 

With my fly I cast off^ duty. 
O the Ananias Club at close of day. 

Where each weary, angling liar. 

Spreads his legs before the fire, 
Reeling yarns about the ones that got away. 

[17] 



LOVE OF NATURE 

Of all the loves that time has ever known, 
Of all the loves that time will ever bring, 
What purer or what more exalted thing 

Than in the love of nature may be shown? 

A passion out of which the sting has flown, 
That makes the heart continually to sing! 
Its memory can never come to ring 

Again in hollow souls, to changes prone. 

Handmaid of God! — Like God Himself — that 

all 
May love devotedly with passion deep, 
What nobler altar can I find for thee 
Than here among the Cascade Mountains, tall 
And towering, where great Columbia's sweep 
Ten thousand years has been and yet will be? 



[18] 



IN THE STILL NIGHT WATCHES 

In the still night watches 
While mine eyelids sleep, 

Jesus, Blessed Savior, 
Still thy vigil keep. 

Thou hadst thy Gethsemane 
While the others slept. 

Thy soul suffered anguish. 
Thine eyes, too, have wept. 

Deepest human sorrow 
Knew its day with thee; 

Now this desolation 

Hath o'erwhelmed me. ' 

By thy grief and passion 

Thou the crucified 
Hast provided comfort, 

Hast my need supplied. 

Smooth my fevered pillow, 

Calm my fears unrest. 
Touch my troubled forehead, 

Jesus give me rest. 



[i»] 



COLUMBIA RIVER 

Columbia, mighty pulse in empire's vein, 

Who, throbbing through a thousand cen- 
turies night 
Dost roll serene, majestic in thy might 

Before my vision; To the solemn strain 

Of thy deep rhythm doth my heart attain 
A depth of reverence and a clearer sight. 
I've known thee near thy source where thou 
art slight, 

I've seen where thou dost nourish fertile plain ; 
Where through deep mountain chasms thou 

hast worn 
Thy still, persistent, unrelenting way. 
And made my home where thou dost offer all 
To swell and sweeten broad Pacific, shorn 
In part of savor yielding to thy sway 
Then binding thee forever in his thrall. 



[20] 



A DAY WITH THEE 

The fondest dream a day ago 
This dying day has made to be, 

And peace is in my heart, although 
An ache is there that saddens me. 

For that I dreamed could live one day 

And now its life has passed away. 

But there is left within my heart 
And o'er my life an influence sweet, 

That always, ever will be part 
In every problem I may meet ; 

And purer, stronger, will I be 

Because of this day lived with thee. 



[21] 



RECOMPENSE 

Two souls apart may journey on life's road, 
Be tossed about on life's tempestuous sea 
And sore beset of all the ills that be 

May call aloud for succor from the load. 

Yet into many years God hath not showed 
Each to its mate. And then, as if decree 
Of heaven had willed each hears the other's 
plea 

And each finds in the other its abode. 

Ah, blissful recompense for all the years 

In those first hours when these two souls have 

met! 
Ah, wealth of treasure that doth sure atone 
In rubies, diamonds, pearls, for all the tears 
That each hath shed in all the past — and yet 
Ah, greater wealth, to never be alone. 



[22] 



OUR WORDS ARE WINGS 

Our words are. wings that waft away 
But part of what the soul could say, 
And carry to the listening ear 
Imperfectly the soul's good cheer! 
So one who with a soul would speak 
The language of the soul should seek. 

For daily barter — marts of trade — 
The words we use were really made! 
But when we rise to higher things 
And words we use, their crippled wings 
Can scarce transmit the soul's desire 
Or bear the heat of heavenly fire. 



[23] 



JUDGE NOT 

What do I know of the man I may meet? 
What of my life knows the man on the street? 
Yet on his acts in stern judgment I sit, 
He, in his turn sits in judgment on me. 
Both of us blindly ignore holy writ; 
Purblind am I and as wilful is he. 

Weak is the folly that makes me forget 
Failings that be in my conduct, and yet 
Whispering secretly, hid from his sight. 

Blacken his name in the mind of a friend. 
Robbing a man, like a thief in the night, 
Stealing a treasure I never can spend. 



[24.] 



THE SEQUOIAS 

TO THE SEQUOIA CLUB, SAN FRANCISCO 

Ye Sentinels that for a thousand years 

Have watched this peaceful valley, once again 

I find a happy quiet 'neath your shade. 

I hide among you, far removed from strife 

Where men are seeking higher yet to rise 

On ladders built of fallen hopes of men; 

To plant their fortresses, impregnable. 

Upon foundations laid by other hands ; 

And yet, can only flourish there until 

Some victor, stronger than themselves, shall 

cast 
Them down. 

And here, old friends, give me to learn 
The secret of the power that made you great. 
The patient willingness you have to grow 
So slow, so sure. That makes you envy not 
The upstart vine that shoots to greater height 
Along your towering forms in one short year 
Than you have risen through decades of years. 

And give me, too, the kindliness that you 
Have shown in lending aid to weaker things. 
For I have coveted your silent strength ; 
The power, rooted deep in gentleness, 
That makes you willingly, alike the home 
Of singing birds, or sternly to defy 
The beating storm. 

[25] 



And teach me how I may 
Transform life's discords into harmony, 
As passing through your arms, the howling 

gale 
Hath blended into soothing melody. 
I, too, would know the magic and translate 
To music all the discord of my life. 

Like you, deep-rooted in the earth, may I, 
Well-grounded in enduring faith and hope. 
Grow far above the turmoil and the strife 
And breathe a purer atmosphere, as you, 
Who, lifting fronded tops above this vale 
See not alone your own environment 
But all the broad expanse of Heaven as well. 

Departing now, though longing yet to stay, 
I go to meet again the things that test 
The truth of all that I have learned this day. 
And in the trial I shall not forget 
The peace that here abideth, and perchance 
Again, awearied by the conflict, may 
Invoke the solace found within your shade. 
Unless, ah yes, unless before that day 
I pass beyond the need of that you teach. 
Or, too, unless some pigmy shall have laid 
A sharpened blade against your furrowed 
sides ; 



[26] 



Unless devouring flames shall desecrate 
You, Temple of the Living God, or some 
Wild torrent sweeping down this quiet vale 
Shall cut the ground from under you, as do 
The baser passions surging through the lives 
Of men, so often lay them low. 



[27] 



HOPE 

For this shall compensate in full all bitterness 
to me, 

That the ills I may have suffered shall enable 
me to see 

The joy, the cheer there is in life since bitter- 
ness is gone; 

That the womb of blackest midnight holds the 
glory of the dawn. 



[28] 



THE HOUR DIVINE 

I love the dawning of these perfect days 

When come the first pale tints that open 
wide 
The womb of light, and glow the while the rays 
Of splendor search the hidden nooks that 
hide 
The last of lingering night. I cherish, too. 
The drowsy mid-forenoon when nature 
seems 
Asleep ; when drunken honey-bees are through 
The morning's first debauch, and in their 
dreams. 

I love the glory of the mid-day hour 

When shadows least abound, and when the 
source 
Of life and light in his stupendous power 

Has reached the zenith of his daily course; 
When man, infinitesimal, attests 

His insignificance, and ceases toil. 
When in some cooling, friendly shade he rests, 

And prostrate draws his strength from 
brother soil. 

And yet, while loving all of these, I know 

The sanctuary of a perfect day 
Is when the setting sun, descending slow. 

Has followed far adown his golden way 
[29] 



And hid his face beneath the western sea. 

For this unlocks the secret inner shrine 
Where Thou art waiting, O Dear Heart, for 
me. 

Ah, this of all the hours, the Hour Divine. 



[30] 



THE STAR OF HOPE 

I cannot know what destiny has stored 

Within her sealed and secret vault for me; 

I yet must scale the towering crags, and ford 
The swollen torrents ere is found the key. 

I cannot know to-day the reason why 

Seems lost the battle fought through many 
a year; 

But choosing brightest star in yonder sky 
To guide me on, I still shall persevere. 

The potion I may quaff that seems to be 
The draining to its dregs a bitter cup, 

Compels me, even in that act, to see 

The Star of Hope. ... To drink I 
must look up. 



[31] 



THE POET'S MISSION 

Exult, O Poet ! And have no dread 

That thy spirit-body shall leave the earth. 

Though thoughtless tongues shall have called 
thee dead, 
For thou shalt awake in a second birth. 

For God hath placed it within thy power 
To strike the chords on prophetic lyre; 

To sing the songs that in some far hour 
May nerve a soul to again aspire. 

To thee is given a vision past 

The mocking furrow we call the grave; 
Reflecting out of the future's vast 

Unknown the hope that the weary crave; 

To warn the soul that afar hath strayed, 
Yea more, to speak in a nation's ear. 

To stand when opposite thee arrayed 
Is a mighty host, and to know no fear. 

To love a friend and to wrong no foe ; 

To smite in mercy, in mercy just; 
To stand in front of the foremost row 

And to stand steadfast as a leader must. 



[32] 



BUILDING HOPE 

There is no base whereon to build 
The hope for future days, 

Save memory by the past instilled 
In all its devious ways. 

And even though the past has held 

So little of the true, 
Yet on its memories we weld 

Our hope, and start anew. 



[33] 



ALCATRAZ, THE ISLAND PRISON 

Set midway 'twixt the land and land 
What spot a gloomier aspect has 
Than the sombre walls of Alcatraz? 

Her rock-hewn sides like barriers stand 
To cleave the surge of Pacific's roll, 

While the man held there at the law's com- 
mand 
Feels the sob of the tide within his soul. 



[34] 



JESUS THE CHRIST 

We sing of the fame of the prophets and sages, 
The heroes of war and the heroes of peace ; 
Of men who have lived and have wrought 
through the ages — 
The ages to come shall their lustre decrease. 
But one name shall live with the centuries 
passing, 
While fame of the others is fading away. 
Its glory increasing, its splendor surpassing 
The fame of the mighty — They live but a 
day. 

The King of all Kings, little Bethlehem's 
Jesus ; 
The Chief of Ten Thousand, foretold from 
afar; 
The Lion of Judah whose gentleness frees us. 
Nor faileth but lures like the light of a star. 
'T is He untold millions have loved with devo- 
tion; 
'T is He they will cherish while time shall en- 
dure. 
The knowledge of Him, as the deeps hold the 
ocean. 
Shall cover the earth and shall hold it 
secure. 



[35] 



THE OLD ENGLISH LAVENDER MAN 

English Lavender! Ten cents a pack! 

Just buy one — surely you can ! 
You won't want your money back 

From the Old English Lavender Man! 

He stands through each day near the wall 
Of a building that pierces the skies ; 

As I pass I can hear his clear call 

As he stares with his poor sightless eyes. 

I wonder if deep in his soul 

Are visions of hopes and of fears ; 

And if his lost sight were made whole 
Would he love what he now only hears? 

I wonder if Christ passed this way 

And pressed the moist clay to those eyes, 

Would he cease to remember some day 
Or forget petty cares that arise? 

Here's the money ! I'll willingly pay ! 

But the lavender I shall not need. 
The lesson you've taught me to-day 

Is so plain I may run as I read. 



[36] 



CALIFORNIA, BRIDE OF THE SUN 

Tawny the breasts of thy billowing hill-sides ; 

Russet the reach of thy bounteous plains, 
Purple the fringe of the sky that enwraps thee 

Waiting the miracle wrought by the rains. 

Then shall the potency borne in thy bosom. 
Under the fold of thy sombre-hued dress. 

Burst into beauty to gloriously gown thee. 
Bride of The Sun for the bridegroom's 
caress. 



[37] 



AGE 

Thou art the recompense of fretful years ; 
The compensation for the burdens borne 
Through striving days. The lens through 

which we gaze 
Past heights undreamed through all our pur- 
blind youth. 
The anaesthetic deadening memory 
To vain imaginings of earlier years. 
Attaining thee with all thy attributes 
The soul may reach the silvered peaks of peace 
And purity, where all discordant sound 
From lower levels hath become a blend 
Of perfect harmony. Thy joys are those 
Of true reality; though fewer yet 
More perfect than the joys of eager youth. 



[38] 



THE GREATEST 

When this age passes into the ages 

And thy splendor, dear land of my love, 
Hath vanished as mist from the ocean 

Dissolves in the boundless above; 
When the full of the greatness we cherish 

Hath rounded resplendent, complete, 
Shall the grandeur of thee be forgotten, 

Or thy memory with fame be replete? 

'Twill not be the prosaic record 

Of marvelous miracles wrought ; 
'Twill not be the history of battles 

Thy death-daring heroes have fought, 
Nor story of cunning invention 

That dwells like a charm over thee 
For the millions that live in the future 

And the millions beyond them to be. 

Ah, nobler than all of thy warriors. 

Beloved o'er the best of thy sons 
And famed above those that are mighty 

Of all thou hast borne are the ones 
To be heard through the march of the ages 

As voices that float from the past. 
To pen on unperishing pages 

That fame of thy glory may last. 



[39] 



Dear Land, lest thy name be forgotten 

There one day must spring from thy side 
Some clear-voiced, some sweet-singing Homer 

In whom to the full shall abide 
The reflection of all of thy glory. 

The music of all of thy birds. 
And whose song shall so perfectly blend them 

Thy memory shall live in his words. 



[40] 



MY SONG OF THEE 

No Heathen Nine shall aid my rhyme, 
No oaten pipes shall guide my singing; 

No dancing feet shall mark the time 
Or tune the tribute I am bringing 

Daily, hourly unto thee. 

It needs must be majestic measure 
Drawn from source of endless treasure 
If 't would half way voice the pleasure 

Thou hast given to life for me. 

For down Life's River I was swept. 
Nor could I turn against its power. 

Anon upon its brink had wept 

My saddened soul through many an hour 

Because denied one vital need. 

And so I knew not where to turn me, 
Feared I friend as foe would spurn me. 
Doubted I did God discern me 

Or to my despairing heed. 

'T was when my hope had all but gone, 

My faith become the faintest glimmer ; 
When seemed had come the last pale dawn- 
Yea, hope was faint and faith was dimmer- 
Then it was a hand touched mine. 

. . . Saved was I ! And so the praises 
Sung of thee must be in phrases 
Only holiest Angel raises, 
For I found my hand in thine. 
[41] 



HOME 

It's Home though it has but four brown 
walls, 
A window that looks in a quaint back yard, 

A table, some books, and a couch that calls. 
That dissolves my care when the days are 
hard. 

A window that stares at a wall close by. 
When I hide me there I am not aloof, 
For over head, through a pane in the roof 

I can see a million miles of sky. 



[42] 



PUGET SOUND 

O the burnished bays and the winding ways 
That as one make Puget Sound! 

the opal seas with their guardian trees — 
There the soul delights abound! 

1 may sail and sail to the uttermost sea 
I may scale to the sheerest height, 

But no depth nor height can contain for me 
Such a transcendental sight. 

For thy morn's a song and the whole day long 

Has the note of a clear refrain, 
While the Silver-side on the buoyant tide 

Has returned to his home again. 
And thy stars grow pale near the peak of 
night 

While the matins of countless birds 
Chant the death of gloom in the birth of light 

With a medley surpassing words. 

In thy emerald deeps are the pictured steeps 

Of Olympic's jagged crest 
And the soft facades of the blue Cascades 

Float a-slumbering o'er thy breast 
With their tops made white, like an altar cloth. 

By the drifted and chastened snow, 
And as free from stain as the plighted troth 

That the purest of maidens know. 

[ 43 ] 



FREEDOM 

Done am I now with all cant and all sham- 
ming; 
Free evermore from the worship of creed. 
Riven in twain is the barrier spanning 

The sigh of my soul and the help I may 
need. 
Banished the fear of my ignorance born 

And aglow is the night with the glint of the 
morn. 

Days have slipped past me that once were to- 
morrows, 
Yesterdays all, be they joyful or sad. 
Dead is the past and the haunt of its sorrows, 

Sing, O my Soul in thy trust and be glad. 
The bitterest test thy novitiate ended. 

The mystery of peace with thy future is 
blended. 



[44] 



MOUNTAINS 

The man who has gazed at a mountain 
And felt no response in his soul 

Had never a drink at the fountain 

That mortals may taste and be whole. 

It is that which is silent remaineth, 

For a sound's but a sigh then 't is gone; 

And in mountains methinks God explaineth 
The riddles that vex us anon. 

Give me but a glimpse, then withdraw it, 
Yea, deny me forever my sight ; 

For the signal that came when I saw it 
To the depth of my soul flashed a light. 



[45] 



SUNSET IN IDAHO 

I saw the day-sun seek his rest to-night 
'Neath mountain peaks in southern Idaho, 
And turn to purple with his dying glow 

Their covering mantle that so deep, so white, 

Reflected back his glory to the sight. 

The massive tiers of cloud-banks like the 

snow 
Were glorified, and every shade I know 

Bedecked them as adorned for this great rite. 

O, ultimation of a perfect day. 

Though death-song of a dying day thou art. 
How infinitely better in this way 

That day should end, since daylight must 
depart ! 
And, O, that my life's day could ever be 
And end as full, as glorious as with thee! 



[46] 



GREAT SALT LAKE 

Great Inland, Salty Sea a mile in air 

Earth has no other jewel such as thou! 
And gazing round me from thy center now 
At day's expiring hour a sight so fair 
Is spread before me, there can none compare 
Unto it. Held aloft by mountain's brow 
Thy glassy surface, ne'er disturbed by prow 
Of craft of trade, into the sky doth stare 
Reflecting back, as might a mirror's face. 
The storm-scarred mountains planted on thy 

shore 
All painted wondrously by hand divine 
In every color known to human race. 
Thou hast not nor canst have forevermore 
An outlet save to mount the hot sunshine. 



[47] 



HOPE 

Hope never lives in the valleys 

Nor despair at the crest of a peak. 

Paupers do not live in chalets 

Nor strength find a home in the weak. 

But Hope may go into the valleys 
And rescue the prey of despair. 

Paupers, that were, may own chalets — 
With Hope even weaklings may dare. 



[48] 



LIFE 

O Life, thou greatest mystery of time, 

Less understood than is Eternity; 
Thou mystery of mysteries sublime, 

I know why light or darkness more than 
thee. 
Thy quickening came within my mother's 

womb. 
Thine ending shall not find me in the tomb. 



[49] 



THE DESERT 

In places man has called the Solitudes 
There God abideth most. And in the place 
Where men do most abide too often God 
Seems least to be. ,He knew because his path 
Had led through busy marts, through jostling 

crowds 
As well as through the forests where the leaves 
Were whispering secrets of the universe. 
His soul had lost itself in reverie 
Beneath the forest kings in whose rough sides 
Were etched the history of a thousand years. 
Nor was his spirit stranger to the thoughts 
That flood the soul three hundred leagues from 

spot 
Where man may set his foot upon the land. 
There had he gazed about him and beheld 
The throbbing of a million white-plumed 

breasts, 
Had known the power beneath each one and 

felt 
It surging in his own. " 'T is here," he said, 
"Where God has placed his throne upon the 

earth. 
He rides the deep, and those who come not 

here 
Deceive themselves to say they have communed 

with Him. 



[50] 



And so through sea and forest grew his soul 
In closer union with The Infinite. 
His lot was cast where but a line did part 
The virgin forest from earth's mightiest sea, 
And loving both he felt that naught of earth 
Could share with them his love. 

'T was then the hand 
Of duty beckoned him and for a space, 
His steps turned toward the east, he left the sea 
And wood and for the first time found the 

place 
So magical, so silent and so vast 
'T were fitted well for God's retreat where He 
Might come alone to meditate; to plan 
New worlds, to fashion all minute detail 
Pertaining to them and perchance again 
Debate creation of that species which 
Of all His works has sought to thwart His will. 
This place men call the Desert and at first 
Turn back afraid. And so, he, too, as blind 
To mystery returned to sea and wood 
Content. 

But soon there crept into his soul 
A something vague. At first he knew not 

what 
It meant. The whispering of the trees, the 

weird 
Complaining of the sea had ceased to sate 
[51] 



His longings and half aimlessly, half led, 
He scaled the high Sierras where he saw 
The Desert and he knew from whence had 

come, 
Unheard except within his inner soul, 
The voice that fed continually his unrest 
And heeding naught beside he pressed him on 
Toward the Mystic East. 

And there, was placed 
Within his hands a key that he might loose 
The latch that bars a man from his best self; 
That places in his grasp not only square 
And rule wherewith to measure earthly things 
But instruments geometricians use 
When leaving earth to compass heavenly 

spheres. 
'T was on the Desert first he knew himself, 
Took heed of potency of silent power 
And learned that greatest wisdom need not be 
Articulated from the lips nor flow 
From facile pen. The Desert, nude of all 
Affording comfort ; scorched and seared anon 
By burning shafts yet saturated with 
A presence he had never felt in height 
Or depth. Where every color eye hath known 
United into perfect harmony 
Has exquisitely painted cliffs of all 
Fantastic shapes of frowning battlements, 

[52] 



Of castles turreted against the sky 

And from whose tops one sees, his eye deceived, 

Mirage of shady forests, running streams, 

Of crystal-breasted lakes beside whose shores 

Are nested sleeping villages ; and yet 

May be reflected from the real as are 

The highest aspirations and ideals 

That tantalize the soul and float before 

It's eye a shimmering goal. 

And here like One 
Who went alone into the wilderness 
He found ere he returned with lagging step 
The peace that silence whispers in the soul 
To feed the fagging sinews of resistance. 



[53] 



I KNOW NOT 

I know not where nor how, 

I know not why nor when, 
I only know when life is done 

That I shall live again. 
And though I cannot see. 

In faith I can believe 
That I'll partake of holier joys 

Than any I shall leave. 

And so I'm walking, Lord, 

A prayer in every breath. 
The path that leads up mountains steep 

Or through the vale of death. 
At times o'er desert waste, 

With weary, burning feet. 
At others, thanks to Thee, dear Lord, 

By waters still and sweet. 



[54] 



SOLACE 

Has thy sun gone down? 
Does the darkness frown? 

Is it night in the hours of day? 
Is the light obscured? 
Does the pain endured 

Make thee stumble in thy way? 

There's a soothing thought 
With a solace fraught 

That may heal the deepest scars. 
For the sun must set 
Ere our eyes may get 

The light of more distant stars. 



[55] 



ARISEN 

Arisen ! Arisen triumphant o'er fate ; 

Thy splendor renewed at the sea's Golden 

Gate. 
Hail, brave San Francisco, thou bravest and 

best, 
March on to thy glory in front of the west ! 
We wept at thy sorrow 

And ever we pray 
God guide thy to-morrow 
God bless thee to-day ! 
And praying we pledge thee united to be 
To keep thee the Queen of the earth's greatest 
sea. 



[56] 



THE WILL 

The trying burden daily borne 

Is but the task that makes thee strong; 

But bear it not from night till morn 
And thou canst bear it all day long. 

There are those who in error hold 

That God intended some to fall 
Beneath the load — in bondage sold — 

With none to heed a helpless call. 

If this be true 't would but defame 
The righteousness and love of God, 

And in The Great Creator's name 
Chastise us with a heavy rod. 

But God hath placed within thy soul 

A healing for its every ill. 
If thou shalt choose 't will make thee whole, 

'T is part of Him— it is thy will ! 

Bestowing this within thy hand 

He delegated unto thee 
A power like His to thus command 

In molding thine own destiny. 



[57] 



THE CITY LOVED AROUND THE 
WORLD 

The Pride of the West ! 
The Gem of the Sea! 
The City that Is! 
The City to Be ! 
Where the ship "Content" her sail has furled; 
The City Loved Around the World ! 
San Francisco ! 



[58] 



THE CALL OF THE BELL 

Alone in a quiet, old country town 

At evening in earliest spring, 
While sitting in front of the quaint little inn 

Came the sound of a church-bell's ring. 
'T is Wednesday I mused as the clear tones 
pealed 

Throughout the long tree-clad street, 
And — harking me back in memory's ken — 

The night that God's people meet. 

As danced in and out through the arching trees 

The silvery song of the bell, 
The scenes quickly pressed one by one into 
mind 

That held me secure in their spell; 
How each Wednesday night through my life 
as a lad 

I was taught to take up my way 
To the door of a drab-colored meeting house 

Where sinners had met to pray. 

So, spanning with thought the abyss between 

My life as now and then, 
When I went to the little, drab meeting-house, 

I said, I will go again! 
And rising, I started with willing feet 

To the rhythmic ring of the bell, 
Nor halted until I had found a seat 

Mid scenes I had known so well. 
[59] 



Now clearer and clearer my vision grew 

Of a past almost forgot 
In striving for what we may think avails, 

But having, avails us not. 
And hearing the voices these village folk 

Were raising in hymns of praise 
I yearned for the days of the long ago, 

For days that were better days. 

The speeding years betwixt then and now. 

The gods I had worshipped and known, 
Have passed from my thought, 'neath the in- 
fluence here 

The years and the gods have flown. 
For I know that with all of his failings. 

Though far twixt his life and the goal. 
The man who sincerely acknowledges God 

Is nearest the man that is whole. 

So, finished the song with its worship of praise 

And peace seemed pervading the air 
As the silver-locked leader extended his hands. 

On his lips invitation to prayer. 
I knew that he meant it as truly for me 

As for any who looked on his face 
And it seemed in the tones of that kindly calm 
voice 

I could all my young manhood retrace. 



[60] 



And now began to vibrate once again 

My heart-strings, rusted through the long 

neglect 
Of years, and grown discordant as the strings 
Upon a stringed instrument unused. 
And with each sentence of the simple prayer 
The pastor offered in a child-like faith 
I felt returning sight, as I had seen 
In matters spiritual and not discerned 
By mortal eye. The many doubts that had 
From far afield hung o'er me as a cloud. 
And like miasmic poison caused to droop 
And flicker, what was once a steady flame 
Seemed now in fast retreat. And where so 

long 
These doubts had held dominion I could feel 
Exultant pleasure in returning faith; 
The simple faith I learned when at the knee 
Of Mother, sweet as man has ever known ; 
A faith that penetrates as sharpened steel 
Through every grief and all perplexity; 
That will not, cannot swerve though locked 

within 
A body drawn and bent by mortal pain. 
For simple faith is faith that will abide ! 

As trusting child of earthly parent asks 
The thing in earthly parents' power to do. 
So prayed this man a trusting child of God. 
"Our loving Heavenly Father, Dearest Friend, 
[61] 



Whose mercy brings us at this quiet eve 
With one accord to kneel before thy throne, 
We ask Thee first, to cleanse our hearts from 

guile. 
From insincerity and secret sin. 
We here acknowledge Thee in all the way 
In which unto this night we have been led, 
And sad are we our feet so often stray 
And in forbidden paths are wont to tread. 
Forgive us when unthinkingly remiss 
And pity, Lord, when knowingly we sin. 
We thank Thee for the blessings we enjoy; 
For daily food, for shelter from the storm. 
For health and strength,! for loving friends, for 

all 
We have we thank Thee, and for all that we 
But for our own shortcomings might have 

been. 
For those who wont to worship here who 

now 
Are laid on beds of pain and cannot come 
To join their prayers with those we offer Thee 
We ask a soothing blessing and that Thou 
Wilt lay upon their ills a healing hand." 

And now it seemed he prayed for me alone. 

As if he knew the thought within my heart 

Of hearts. "But most of all, dear Lord, we 

ask 
That Thou wilt fully heal the sick of soul, 
[ 62 ] 



Who whether here or elsewhere carry deep 
The self-inflicted wounds that will not heal, 
Nor can be cured except by means of grace 
That makes us see our insufficiency. 
Who, seeking surcease, wander everywhere 
But in the way that leads them unto Thee; 
Who, having ears yet seemingly are deaf, 
And having eyes are yet too blind to see. 
For him who prides himself he always lives 
Within the bounds prescribed by moral law, 
And feels this all sufficient, Lord, we pray. 
But more we pray, Our Father, for the man. 
Who, though he cherish well the written law. 
Yet knows a higher duty still remains 
To be fulfilled by him and heedeth not. 
For him who seeth, Lord, and taketh not ; 
For him who heareth. Lord, and doeth not 
We feel our prayers must needs more fervent 

be 
Because he thereby addeth sin to sin. 
If such there be within this presence now. 
Then grant the prayer we offer may be his, 
And as he passes forth into the night 
May every shining star above his head 
Reflect on him Thy glorious radiancy. 
Yea, give to him assurance doubly sure 
That he who doeth more than must be done 
That men may dwell together in accord. 
Shall feel Thy benediction in his soul, 
And come into a goodly heritage ; 
And in Thy Name we ask it all. Amen." 
[63] 



And then a song was borne on every tongue ; 
"Abide with me, fast falls the eventide, 
The darkness deepens, Lord, with me abide. 
When other helpers fail and comforts flee, 
Help of the helpless, O, abide with me." 

The prayerful song was done and then the 

words 
Of benediction sealed within my soul 
A blessing greater than could soul contain. 
I hastened forth beneath the glorious night 
And felt were I to speak 't would but profane 
And mar the eloquence of God's own voice. 
The hearing to my soul so long unknown 
Seemed once again returned and sensitive 
To sound heard only in the silence, but 
Whose mandates followed lift us far above 
The life of sordid gain. 

And now beside 
The loss of deafness came the gain of sight. 
Of sight discerning spiritually the things 
Long since forgotten, or, if not forgot, 
Unheeded and as well forgot. For if 
They unremembered be then wilful sin 
May not be added to the sin that we 
Commit, mayhap, so often thoughtlessly. 
For thus I do affirm it my belief. 
That when I do an evil knowingly. 
Resisting conscience struggling to be heard, 
My guilt is greater far than when I sin 
[64] 



Unthinking and unhearing conscience plea. 
But each indeed is grievous and in each 
I sin. 

With sight and hearing full restored 
I saw beneath the thin veneer that hides 
The rough, uneven inconsistencies 
That make my days. I heard again the voice 
That once I knew and followed in my life 
And felt anew the, restfulness of peace 
That once was mine but since was lost, and I 
Content and joyful sought repose with heart 
So long discordant now attuned to God. 



[65] 



THE SHASTA DAISY 

If out the past now dim and hazy, 

Wordsworth, Burns or Chaucer came, 

They'd each immortalize thy name 

As daisies' queen, thou Shasta Daisy. 

They'd love no less the little mite 

That Burns' bright plowshare brought to sight, 

Or Wordsworth's gallant knightly one 

Protecting dewdrop from the sun. 

But they would surely see in thee 

A daisy's rich maturity. 

And, too, perchance might truly feel 

Their singing of the daisy's worth. 

Caused sympathy and love to steal 

In Burbank's heart to give thee birth. 



[66 1 



THE SONNET 

A sonnet? But the cradle for a thought; 
A golden setting, where the purest gem 
Of truth may shine. A royal diadem 

To crown the loftiest forms that men have 
brought 

Adown the heights of Helicon. That ought 
Be ne'er profaned, nor even touched by them 
Except with awe, as was Christ's garment 
hem, 

When poetess of old its healing sought. 

O harp of gold, whereon could angels play, 
'T would set seraphic melodies adrift; 
O chords made fit to sound beyond all time, 

The noblest strains that be in any day. 

My yearning soul hath sought no richer 
gift. 

Than once to sound thy fullest power sublime. 



[67] 



PURIFICATION 

Like as the scudding spray when hurled 
By mighty gales from ocean's crest 

Is driven far^ by tempest whirled, 
And falls again to ocean's breast ; 

So, often we are cast above 

The bosom of life's stormy sea 

To fall upon God's tide of love 

When searching gales have made us free. 



[68] 



I'LL SMILE MY GRIEF AWAY 

The sun has sought his resting place 

Across the western lea ; 
The herds are lowing in the fields 

And sad the heart in me. 

The nighthawk sounds his mournful note 

Like wail of some lost soul 
And though the bells are chiming clear 

I only hear them toll. 

But, no! I'll cast from out my heart 
The thoughts that make me sad, 

Remembering the day contained 
So much to make me glad. 

The hope I cherished ere the sun 

Began his course to-day 
Has been fulfilled unsparingly — 

I'll smile my grief away! 



[69] 



ONE DEAR DAY 

One dear day, just one dear day 

To satisfy hoping and longing of years ! 

And when 't is gone I'll go my way 

With a last tender look and a prayer God 
hears. 

For in days that are coming the memory sweet 

Must suffice for the hoping and longing I meet. 

O, coming day thou'rt doubly dear ! 

I'll live in thee now for to-night is thine eve 
And with its shadow shall go the fear 

Thy dawning and sunlight would surely re- 
lieve. 
At thy close when I part from thee sorrowing, 

then. 
Blessed God, give me strength to go onward 
again ! 



[70] 



INFINITY 

Thou Great and Uncreated One, 
Whose fadeless glory pales the sun, 
What finite mind can comprehend 
How love and grandeur in Thee blend, 
Who, never born, can never end? 

Before by seons the nations were, 
Before the world's foundations were. 
Or orbits laid through dizzying space 
Where countless worlds at maddening pace 
Could strive in their eternal race ; 

Before Orion, Pleiades 

And all the host that speed with these 
Were on their journeys, never ending. 
Called from space and with the blending 
Of equilibrium, were lending 

Harmony to swell the shout 

The rushing, thundering spheres ring out 
Projecting onward, ceasing never. 
Thou wast then and will be ever 
Elohim, Adonai, Jehovah! 

As men Thy ceaseless wonders see 

They raise continually to Thee, 
Too often with an outward show, 
Their puny altars where the glow 
Of Holy Fire is ever low. 
[71] 



But more befitting would it be 

To Thy InefFabilitj 

That highest mountain peaks be e'er 
Thine altars, their pure snows the prayer 
Of those who Thy Great Name declare. 

The clouds that melt in silent space 

Be incense veiling o'er Thy face 

From man's presumptuous arrogance 
That lets him dare to give offense 
Withholding from Thee reverence. 

But when our inner souls rehearse 
The wonders of Thy Universe 

We stand in awe, we worship Thee, 

With vision of the soul we see. 

With minds appalled — Infinity! 



[72] 



GOD IS LOVE 

I do not see Thee in the storm 

That shrieking through the air 
Bombards the leeward, rock-bound coast, 

Unheeding black despair 
Besetting some poor mariner 

Who still the hope may cherish 
That Thou, in his extremity 

Wilt save him lest he perish. 

Nor in the earthquake's awful shock 

When souls are steeped in dread 
Mid thunderings that only mock 

The soul whose hope has fled. 
When mountains tremble to their base, 

When mighty trees are falling 
And every quivering human face 

Is blanched with fear appalling. 

I see Thee when the canopy 

Of summer's dying day 
Is settling to the ocean's crest 

And faith holds fear at bay. 
When minds are filled with loftier thought 

And hearts with nobler aiming 
Than when resolve has root in fear 

And virtue's but the naming. 



[73] 



I see Thee when on mountain peaks 

I learn from Thee, my teacher, 
And in the peaceful valleys sleep 

Secure Thy weakest creature. 
When in the nest the mother birds 

Enfold each little dove. 
These tell my soul as if in words 

That God, my God, is love. 



[74] 



YEARS 

Who reckons a love between two by their 

years ? 
Who by this same measure can judge sorrows 

tears ? 
Does the span of the seasons dissolve bitter 

hate? 
Then unheedful of time let the heart find its 

mate. 
For the reck of the days of our years here 

will be 
Forgotten and lost in an eternity. 



[75 1 



THE FLOWER IN THE WOOD 

There's an ecstasy of feeling, 

A superlative delight, 
A devotion that makes kneeling 

Follow, as the morn the night, 
If our natures see reflected. 

In its mystic, magic power. 
The hand that made the forest trees, 

Within a forest flower. 

Yet count it still a mighty hand 

That built the towering mountains, 
That fills the never failing seas 

From never failing fountains. 
But count it, too, as fully great 

A marvel that He could 
With that same hand make exquisite 

A flower in the wood. 



[76] 



AT MIDNIGHT 

The darkness, Lord, is on the deep. 
My soul doth trust in Thee to keep 
A kindly watch till night has run 
And comes again the rising sun. 

And yet I love the midnight hour 
When darkness makes me trust Thy power. 
When not one ray of silvery light 
May pierce the void to aid my sight. 

For all day long 'neath garish ray 
By mortal sight I choose my way 
And wander far aside from Thee 
In paths Thou dost not choose for me. 

I look back on the day that's done 
And forward to another's sun, 
I ask forgiveness for my sin 
And pray my better self may win. 

And so I love this midnight hour 

When darkness makes me trust Thy power. 

When fails the help mine eyes afford 

I needs must trust Thee most, dear Lord. 



[77] 



TO A PORTRAIT 

Ah, the pity that all neath the light of the sun 
Must fade like the joy of a day that is done. 
And though it enchant and enrapture the 

while 
Must be withered by time and partake of the 

vile. 

That to-day in its beauty a flower, full blown, 
Gives its lips to be ravished and then all alone 
In the breath of the sun withers back to the 

sod, 
Like the mortal consumed for the love of a 

god. 

That the leaf that has sighed as the soft sum- 
mer breeze 

With a lingering kiss whispered love in the 
trees. 

Must die in its grief when the lips have grown 
cold; 

That the breast that has nourished will turn 
it to mold. 

Ah, yet greater pity that all doth embrace! 
As the flower and leaf so must fade woman's 

face. 
Be marked by the touch and the ravage of 

years 
And watered again and again by her tears. 
[78] 



HAST THOU GONE FROM ME? 

Hast thou gone from me, my blessed Poesy, 

Left me desolate upon the shore, 
Where through days with thee I dwelt so hap- 

Art thou gone from me forevermore? 

Doth my woe commence because I gave 
offence ? 

Gave I sorrow in some thoughtless deed? 
Hath some providence as evil recompense 

Willed my wounded heart again to bleed? 

Sad through saddened years I shed my bitter 
tears, 
Made my griefs but could not make my 
joys. 
Filled with many fears and deaf to hope that 
cheers 
I filled the gold of life with life's alloys. 

Then, as out the sea, thy presence came to me. 
Dissolved the mist before my blinded eyes. 

Made me long to be through all eternity 
Pure as prayer ascending to the skies. 

Blessed Poesy, as now I sing of thee. 
Comes again thy gentle, soothing spell. 

Thou wilt constant be, as constant as the sea 
Is to the shore it kisses with its swell. 
[79] 



ETERNAL LIFE 

Eternal Life — not merely endless state 
That may thy weak presumption desolate. 
So, think it not sufficient, erring soul 

To say there is a God who orders all. 
The cloud from out thy vision cannot roll 
Until thou knowest God and on Him call. 
Then, in that moment, hath begun for thee 
The life that shall endure eternally. 



[80] 



TEMPTATION 

Who stands secure against the lure 

That sore besetteth him, 
Hath builded deep and high and sure 

Around a chasm rim. 

But he who yielded only once 
Yet once again may yield. 

He fights the foe his life confronts 
Behind a weakened shield. 

And yet, who yielded not at all 

It may be never knew 
The trial that made the other fall 

Or he had fallen too. 



[81] 



A VALENTINE 

TO I. C. 

If thoughts are things 

May my thoughts be 
As birds whose wings 

Fly fast to thee; 
Each thought of thine be but a nest 
Where all my birds find home and rest. 



[82] 



WINGS OF GRIEF 

When this weary old world is so full of the 
things 

That may cause us to sigh and to grieve 
Shall we labor on foolishly clipping the wings 

Of the sorrows we cannot relieve? 

For grief hath the fast-flying wings of a bird, 

But if resting on thee from her flight 
She will bide with thee long at a welcoming 
word 
That hath robbed her swift wing of its 
might. 



[83] 



MY FRIEND 

TO M. P. B. 

She was a friend to me! 
And I say it not as we idly speak 
Of the strong who only pity the weak 
With never a thought nor a wish to seek 

To lessen the ills that be. 

Hers was the weight of years, 
And a soul made pure in their chastening fire, 
That never a moment had ceased to aspire. 
Her body grew weak but her soul grew higher 

In graces whose charm endears. 

Then her soul bid its house adieu. 
As the burr falls off the ripened nut ; 
As the heir to a throne leaves a humble hut ; 
As a seed dropping out from a shell that was 
shut, 

Her spirit departed, too. 

So an revoir, sweet Friend! 
You are in the heavens, I know, to-day. 
The path you have marked is Heaven's High- 
way. 
I'll walk in it, too. Perchance I may 

Find you when I reach the end. 



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